


Your Pain On My Skin and Comfort In My Soul

by LannisPuff



Series: Your Pain On My Skin (Soulmate AU) [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Asexual Relationship, M/M, Sharing pain with your soulmate, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, background relationship is frobin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-18
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2019-02-04 02:43:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12761439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LannisPuff/pseuds/LannisPuff
Summary: In a world where you share pain with your soulmate, Law felt sorry for his own. At least until he grew up and they got their revenge for everything Law put them through as children by getting into some pretty serious fights. Then one day, after the worst injuries so far, the newspaper declared the Straw Hat pirates victory at Enies Lobby, and wasn't the timing really suspicious?





	Your Pain On My Skin and Comfort In My Soul

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So in the end of October, before nanowrimo, I made a deal with myself not to read any fanfiction until December and it’s seriously so hard. In addition to that I’ve been having some big lawlu feels, which in the end led to almost 17k of my nano being One Piece fanfiction. This is only a part of that but I felt I wanted to post it now, and not wait until December, which was my original plan. 
> 
> As a gray-aro asexual myself I’ve always felt it kind of hard to ship Luffy with people, but that kind of changed with the Dressrosa arc, because that's when the beautiful ace ship of Law and Luffy hit me.  
> So, in conclusion, they’re both ace in anything I write, Law kind of uncaring of sex but Luffy as a sex-repulsed asexual. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy, and please tell me what you think! Also, feel free to follow the series as I have some outtakes to post later. Perhaps even an AU of my own AU in December, because it’s hard to live with all these dead parents.

For most of his early life, Law didn’t really notice his soulmate, he might have gotten a few scrapes and bumps normal for a child when he still lived in Flevance, but after that any injuries that might have been from his soulmate just got lost in his own daily pain. It wasn’t until after everything, after Cora-san died to save him and after he’d managed to cure the amber lead poisoning, that he noticed his soulmate for the first time. Law was 14 and had been alone for almost a year when he woke up from a sudden pain in his cheek. He thought he was attacked and got up in a panic and it wasn’t until he had made sure that he was still alone that he found a mirror to check his cheek. It was just a small cut under his eye, but for Law it was something of a revelation. There was someone out there in the world that had suffered right along with him. The thought froze him, and he couldn’t decide if he wanted to be happy that he wasn’t completely alone in the world even without Cora-san or if he should pity whatever poor soul had ended up with him as a soulmate. That question continued to haunt Law for a long time. 

 

\-------

 

At sixteen he met Bepo, if you can call getting captured and escaping from slavers together meeting, but things got better after that. The soulmate that he had barely even noticed for the for the first fourteen years of life had apparently also decided to get revenge for the pain Law had put them through because from that first stab in the cheek he rarely went without scrapes and small cuts that didn’t originate from his own actions. As he continued his studies to be a doctor he noticed something weird with his soul marks. His soulmate almost never got bruises. There were a few times when he got some very painful bumps on his head, but other than that all the pain came from broken skin, not a single time did Law find bruises or feel a broken bone. He should probably be thankful for that, Law’s childhood had surely made them suffer enough, but it also made him really curious. Because surely someone with the amount of random injuries that his person picked up would end up with bruises? The years offered no explanation and when the news of Doflamingo becoming a warlord reached him Law decided to not focus on his soulmate so much. Whoever they were they probably wouldn’t appreciate his piracy and his life goal of taking down an extremely powerful warlord. So, Law focused his pirate career. He collected a great crew and a good ship and eventually, when he deemed both his crew and himself strong enough, made his way into the Grand Line to make a name for himself. 

 

\-------

 

Law wasn’t a person to dwell on the past, it had happened, it had sucked, and now he wanted revenge, but he didn’t dwell on it. During the last few months he had, however, started to see some benefits of him having gone through it all. Because however much it had sucked, which was a whole fucking lot, it had given him a high threshold for pain. That high pain tolerance became necessary as his soulmate had seemingly thrown all caution to the wind and kept getting seriously beat up. His crew had noticed, of course they had, Law once fell over from what felt like having his abdomen pierced straight through. When he checked the marks later he was horrified to see that that was exactly what must have happened, because the marks showed a clear entry and exit wound on his stomach and back. It might seem that that would be enough to ground his soulmate, but no, they just kept on going and the injuries kept appearing. At this point Law was certain that they were someone who fought with their fists, because they were something that kept getting messed up. Law was slightly annoyed at that, because every time the marks appeared they drew the attention away from his tattoos. After that he always felt bad for thinking it since he had mentally decided not to complain on his soulmate after all he put them through with amber lead and the Donquixote family. 

 

“Captain, do you think they might be a pirate as well?” Bepo asked one day when he came in with food for Law, who had decided to just not leave his room until his absolute idiot of a soulmate had stopped hurting so damned much. 

“Maybe, who else would be getting into this much fights? Sure, they might be in some army, or perhaps a revolutionary?” He paused as an unpleasant thought hit him. “I only hope they’re not a marine.” Bepo shuddered at the thought and Law agreed with him. Even if they were his soulmate Law would not play nice with marines of all people. Cora-san had been an only exception, and he’d disobeyed them in the end either way. 

 

\-------

 

However much his soulmate kept getting injured, they at least healed quick, which Law was very thankful for. From what he could see from the marks and judge from the pain, the injuries should take months to heal on a normal person, but Law generally felt better just a few days after the pain started. This was the reason that he was up and about when the News Coo arrived just a few days after his conversation with Bepo and the worst injuries his soulmate had sustained so far. 

“Straw Hat Luffy declares war on the World Government”, was boldly announced on the front page. 

The newspaper also included a more detailed description on the event as well as a bunch of brand new wanted posters for the small crew. Law always tried to keep an eye on the other rookies in the Grand Line, but this time it wasn’t the news but the timing that got to him. It felt a little too close to be a coincidence. He hadn’t really thought of it before, but hadn’t that Straw Hat captain gotten a raise in bounty at two different occasions after Laws soulmate got injured? From the look Bepo gave him he had definitely noticed and from Penguin’s and Shachi’s sniggering they probably had as well. Law sighed but choose not to comment on it in front of the crew. Even if his soulmate was on the Straw Hat pirates, and that was still an if, because correlation did not have to mean causation, Law wouldn’t care about that right now. He couldn’t be sure that it even was him, even if a small voice kept commenting on the fact that Straw Hat did have a scar under his left eye and fought with his fists. 

 

\-------

 

Despite his crew slight titters every time Law’s soulmate marks acted up, he managed to continue to ignore it. Firstly, he didn’t want to start making plans based on what he knew of Straw Hat just from marine-controlled news and rumors, if the man really was his soulmate Law wanted to make his own opinion. Second, the fact that they might be soulmates didn’t change the fact that they were enemies, that they were captains on different crews. Despite this Law couldn’t really help to pay extra attention to any mention of the Straw Hats in the news after what had felt like another major battle. To his disappointment he couldn’t find anything, but this also wasn’t the first time. He supposed his soulmate fought someone outside of the reach of the marines or the they simply didn’t want to share what the pirates had done. He slightly hoped for the second, because if the marines didn’t want to make it public, it had to have been impressive and a loss for the World Government. 

 

\-------

 

When the Heart pirates arrived at Sabaody Archipelago Law quickly took note of the other pirates there. People called them Supernovas, 11 pirates with bounties higher than a hundred million berries. Law supposed it was an easy way to keep track of the most powerful pirates, and everyone liked a fancy title. It was almost funny how they all ended up at Sabaody at the same time, but here they were so Law was going to take advantage. He almost even got a good seat to a fight between Urouge and Kid’s first mate Killer when X-Drake interrupted. He would be annoyed, but it was perhaps even more interesting to meet the man that had unconsciously saved Law’s life all those years ago, so he let it go. 

 

Then, of course, things got even more interesting when Straw Hat Luffy burst into the auction hall and punched a Celestial Dragon in the face. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have him for a soulmate after all? 

 

Any thought’s he had of perhaps bringing this up with the man himself was waylaid when the freaking marines arrived. Of course, simple soldiers weren’t enough either because soon the Archipelago was overrun with a warlord, an Admiral and all those fucking pacifistas. In addition to that he had to fight alongside Kid of all people, which just felt like bad taste. 

 

The racing river of chaos just wouldn’t stop there either, oh no. Now Fire-Fist Ace of the Whitebeard pirates was going to be executed. Law dragged himself to watch despite his soulmate, and it was getting silly to deny it being anyone other than Straw Hat at this point, apparently getting himself nearly killed again. Law didn’t even know where the other captain was. The entire Straw Hat crew had just vanished from the island in the chaos. The answer came when the video den den mushi showed the idiot appearing at the war by simply falling from the sky with an entire warship and the oddest collection of allies Law could imagine. 

 

So, Fire-Fist was his brother? That explained why he was there, even if Law still couldn’t understand how. Law didn’t really think he should be fighting a war right now either. He had just charged through Impel Down, if his allies were anything to go by, and Law knew for a fact that he hadn’t got through that uninjured. In fact, he had been pretty sure that the other captain was going to die at some point going by the levels of pain. Even now, when Straw Hat was running through a warzone, Law was trying to disguise that he was leaning on Bepo. That man definitely had something more than just a devil fruit powering him. Perhaps this was what Cora-san meant when he was talking about the will of D and how it would bring a storm? Because this war certainly felt like the beginning of a storm. Whatever it was, when the cameras cut out Law made a split-second decision on not letting him die. Soulmate or not, it would surely be a shame to not see what he could accomplish. 

 

\-------

 

By the time they broke the surface at Marineford Law was struggling to stand up straight. What did he do? Then a clown in prison garb came flying with the severely bleeding Knight of the Sea Jinbe, who even if he was unconscious still held onto Straw Hat, who looked as bad as Law felt. As soon as the other captain and the former warlord was on the ship Law put a hand on Straw Hat’s arm, and suddenly he could breath and stand straight again. It really was amazing. Straw Hat himself was probably too far gone to feel anything at all, but Law was conscious, and he could fully experience the relief of skin contact with his soulmate. People went most of their life with double the pain, both their own and their soulmate’s, the compensation came if you met them, because a simple touch of skin on skin was enough to sooth even the most intense pain. Right now, with just a few fingers on his soulmates arm, Law barely felt any of the pain he’d experienced just before. Law couldn’t stop the sigh of relief, but he still had to check the battlefield behind them before they left. This was a chance he couldn’t let slip by just to spare himself some pain. So he braced himself and let go so that his crewmates could wheel the bed away into the operation theatre. As they left he leaned against the door for some extra balance. It was a good thing that he waited those few seconds to observe the battle as well, because the clown came back once more, this time with the hat that was his soulmate’s namesake. It would be a pity for him to lose it. 

 

The operations were some of the hardest ones Law had ever preformed. Under other circumstances he would be fascinated with their complexity and the medical knowledge he could gain, but right now he had some problems with feeling that appreciation. Namely the excruciating pain he was in any time he wasn’t in contact with Straw Hat. Both operations were exceedingly difficult, and Law had to use his devil fruit a lot to even begin to stabilize them, but it wasn’t even enough at that. With Jinbe the problem lay in trying to concentrate through the pain, but with Straw Hat he had to work through the extremely unpleasant feeling of putting his hands in someone’s chest cavity and feeling it in his own. If the pain hadn’t been reduced from the physical contact, Law would never have been able to do it. When he had managed to stabilize them as much as he could for the moment and the adrenaline started to wear off Law was swaying on his feet. His devil fruit used a lot of stamina, and that combined with the pain during the last few days made the world slightly hazy. He had just decided that he should probably take a nap when everything tilted and he straight up fainted. Hopefully someone would catch him. 

 

\-------

 

“Are we really going to just leave?” Bepo asked as he stood next to Law, watching the island disappear in the distance. “I mean now that you’re sure its him, you’re still leaving without saying anything?” Law was silent, thinking over how to formulate his answer. Bepo had started apologizing before Law interrupted him with an answer. 

“He just lost his brother, and his nakama is god know where, I don’t want to step into that right now”

“Wouldn’t it be better for him to have someone? To ease the pain?” 

“Have me, you mean?” Law asked. “A complete stranger? I don’t want to step in and tell him to get over something like this just because we happen to share pain. It’s only the physical pain that I can help with, and right now I don’t think that even registers with him. It’s better if we meet another time, when he’s had time to heal.” Bepo looked at him and it was only because Law had known him for almost eight years know that he could see the mink’s slight disapproval at that answer, but he didn’t comment on it. 

“You’re the captain”

 

\-------

 

The next two years Law started to really work towards his goal of taking down Dofalmingo. It was a hard and long process and he really didn’t want to have to share the warlord title with the man, but it afforded him information and resources that he needed. Some of the information that really wasn’t relevant to his mission was very interesting all the same, because as a warlord he could find out what happened to the ones before him. That it had indeed been Straw Hat who took out Crocodile he had suspected for a while, but that his soulmate had also be the one to take down Gecko Moria was news. Perhaps he could learn something from the man for the handling of Doflamingo, because at this rate Straw Hat had taken down two warlords and allied three others, former or not. He really had an ability to make people his allies. Law wondered if that also was something that originated in the D, but then again, he was also a D but he didn’t pull people towards himself like Straw Hat did. 

 

\-------

 

It had been two years since the war at Marineford and Law was currently hanging out at Punk Hazard in wait for a good time to enact his plan. He’d sent the rest of the crew to Zou despite their protests, because if he was going up against Doflamingo he really didn’t want any of them to die as well. Of course, this plan of keeping others safe from his actions kind of backfired when the entire Straw Hat crew showed up at Punk Hazard. Law kind of wanted to pull his own hair in frustration with whatever god or fate that was playing tricks on him now. He had suspected that the Straw Hats were back from the battle wounds he’d felt a few weeks ago, but since he spent his time on this hellhole he couldn’t even get his hands on a newspaper to confirm it. So here he stood in front of his soulmate, internally debating with the small voice that suggested just booking it as far away as possible to avoid involving his soulmate in his own fucking problems. The bigger, more rational part of himself realized what an asset this crew was and suggested an alliance. Pirate alliances was always full of betrayal but from the simple way Straw Hat had accepted his assurances he kind of felt like he wouldn’t have to worry about that. Even if he still didn’t mention the small fact that he was sharing pain with the other captain. At this moment it would just distract from the mission and Straw Hat really didn’t seem like someone who would figure it out without some pretty obvious clues. He did, however, have to be careful around his crew because he could already feel some of them watching him with distrust. The first mate in particular gave off the implication that just because their captain trusted him immediately it didn’t mean that their crew would be so easily played. 

 

The moment Law had a small deer that was apparently also a doctor and not a pet tied to his head he should have realized that this alliance was going to be weird. It didn’t really get better from there. The Straw Hats were loud, crazy and apparently frenemies with a vice admiral, but somehow they still pulled of all their crazy stunts. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to be horrified or impressed. Then Vergo showed up and any thought of the Straw Hats particular brand of crazy got pushed to the back in a fight not only against a strong opponent but also way too much repressed childhood trauma. 

 

\-------

 

If the Straw Hats had seemed weird during the chaos on Punk Hazard it was nothing compared to them confined to a ship on open water. It didn’t seem to bother them that they were on their way straight into the arms of a particularly dangerous warlord, oh no, they just rolled along. They played and laughed and fought over the food with way too much intensity and Law just tried to stay out of it. Most of the time it felt like an endeavor doomed to fail, and he was dragged in to the chaos more than he would have liked. 

 

\-------

 

When they got to Dressrosa things quickly went to shit, and Law found himself in desperate need of the Straw Hat crews’ ability to produce their crazy miracles, because he had severely underestimated Doflamingo. As long as they could destroy the factory it would all be fine, Kaido would finish of Doflamingo and Cora-san would be avenged, even if Law wasn’t there to see it. Some part of him realized and grieved over the way that it would probably affect Luffy if he died, but at the moment he was enacting a plan 13 years in the making, so thoughts of his soulmate would just have to wait. He was probably giving Luffy some trouble right now, but it was hard to avoid injury when fighting a warlord and an admiral, and the other captain would probably be alright, as he did regularly fight with much worse. 

 

Law kind of had to adjust his initial guess that it would be alright, because Doflamingo was fucking merciless, not that it was a surprise, and Law ended up curb stomped in the most spectacular way possible, and even quire literally. Right in front if the Colosseum and surrounded by people he was shot thrice in the chest and wow did it fucking hurt. Some small part of his mind registered Straw Hat screaming his stupid nickname, but even his soulmate couldn’t pull him away from the darkness quickly taking over. His last thought was of Cora-san, and how their deaths had been so similar. Then of course he didn’t die, but was taken by Doflamingo to a fucking meeting, and chained to the very chair that had belonged to his adoptive father. 

 

Doflamingo really liked the sound of his own voice, and Law was so fucking done with him at this point. He kept going on about Law’s failed plan and how he should never have left and all that they could have achieved. Law didn’t really care, he’d been unconscious for some of it and now he just needed to get Doflamingo to leave the Straw Hats alone. Their alliance was over now, he had to believe that. Either way, Straw Hat himself must have realized who Law was at this point, and with that knowledge he also must have realized that Law had known and not said anything. He had lied to and used his own soulmate. Law didn’t deserve him anymore. It would be best for them to go their separate ways here, Straw Hat didn’t deserve to die here because of Law’s revenge. It was between him and Doflamingo and he had already involved Straw Hat to much. The best solution would be for him to destroy the factory and then get out of here with Caesar. Then Kaido would take out Doflamingo and Law could rest knowing his sacrifice had avenged Cora-san. At least that’s what he wanted to believe, but there was still a part of him that screamed in joy when Straw Hat Luffy came crashing into the room. 

 

“Our alliance is over! You should focus on destroying the factory and then get out of here!” He screamed at him but was completely ignored. Straw Hat just didn’t see reason when he’d decided on something. Instead he called Law selfish while completely ignoring his opinion. Despite Law’s attempts at convincing Straw Hat and himself that the alliance was over he still sighed on relief when Luffy’s hand made contact with his skin and the pain almost disappeared. Straw Hat didn’t say anything, but he also seemed to relax at the contact. After that came the chaos of trying to escape, the hilariously pathetic failure of three devil fruit user trying to open sea-stone handcuffs and Straw Hat continuing to completely ignore any opinion that he didn’t agree with. 

“I don’t care what you think, I say the alliance is still on then it is. Also, we’re nakama now”

“We’re not!” Law screamed at him, how could he just decide something like that?!

“Yes we are”, his voice was firm but then he gave Law a warm gaze and continued in a softer voice. “We’ve always been nakama, right? You’re my special person, of course that makes you nakama.” Law didn’t know how to answer, it felt hard to completely deny it when he was still clinging on to the soothing contact. He didn’t have time to decide on an answer because suddenly they were flying out a window, so it really didn’t matter. 

 

\-------

 

As Law was carried across an entire island like a glorified sack of potatoes he was starting to realize that it really was some truth in the Straw Hats ability to create miracles. Because somehow, they had not only turned all the toys back to humans, they had also managed to make an ally of every single strong fighter from the colosseum. It really was quite amazing to see up close. That, of course, didn’t mean that he wasn’t incredibly annoyed with his soulmate at this point. The man had not only taken their plan and stomped on it, he was also running around declaring them nakama for all the world to hear. All while carrying Law over his shoulder like he wasn’t a head taller than him and not exactly feather light. In addition to that, Straw Hat was making sure to always be touching some part of his skin. Law couldn’t help but be slightly impressed with his dedication, but he supposed that it helped him as much as it helped Law. He was having trouble to keep hold of his irritation in the face of everything that was happening, because despite everything Straw Hat did he was also the one making sure that they kept going forward, despite the ever-growing list of enemies standing in their way. That was until they ran down an obvious wrong path and somehow ended up cornered by Doflamingo’s string clone while submerged in water. This just wasn’t his day. 

 

\-------

 

To say that Law was happy to be rid of the handcuffs and walking on his own again would be the fucking understatement of the century. he would probably never get his reputation back and because of that he wasn’t even sure it had been worth it, despite all the pain relief. From there things just kept on getting weirder. The little girl with the grapes got knocked out by a horrible rendition of the cowardly Straw Hat sharpshooter, who, when Law thought about it, should be on the king’s plateau on the other side of the island. The entire Straw Hat crew really was crazy. That did however make him think that maybe this would work, that perhaps they could actually do this. That he would succeed. With the first thought of real hope his determination was ignited for real. Who cared about Kaido at this point, Doflamingo was going down today. With that thought burning in his chest he let Straw Hat lift him up again to take them up to meet the monsters. 

 

“Let me just make sure”, Doflamingo said as they landed in front of him. “Just in case I’m wrong. You two, what did you come here for?” His smile really was creepy. Why did he have to smile all the time? 

“To kick your ass!” Straw Hat’s voice was sure and angry, and Law could do nothing but agree.

“What he said” 

“I’m disappointed”, the warlord said, but his voice hadn’t really changed. “I expected better, you were my cute underling once Law, until that despicable brother of mine got his hands on you”, his words made Law boil with anger. He had no right to talk about Cora-san in any way, but Law didn’t get a chance to say anything because the air had somehow gotten cold next to him. 

“So, it was you, huh?” Straw Hat’s voice was calm, but his eyes were burning in the shadow under his hat. 

“What are you talking about?” Doflamingo seemed perplexed for the first time and his eyes were flicking between the two of them in confusion a few times before a wide, horrible smile spread across his face. 

“Oh, isn’t this wonderful!” He crowed in delight. “Congratulations you two, don’t you have such beautiful matching marks!” He continued to laugh his twisted laugh before his gaze turned dangerous. “Pity you won’t get to enjoy each other anymore!” Once again his laugh rang out, loud and cold, and Law had had enough of this twisted game of his. It was time to attack. 

 

\-------

 

The fight kind of derailed with the appearance of an old acquaintance of Straw Hat, and Law was one again reminded of how different they were. Because instead of just knocking him out Luffy kept trying not to attack him and it was really hindering their fight. In addition to that they both got slightly distracted at each hit the other took. It was easy to ignore your own pain in a fight and they were both already fighting through Law’s gunshot wounds, but it was different when you felt the punch without seeing it. The fight just derailed more and more, Doflamingo and Trebol were tough enemies and it wasn’t even an even two on two, instead the weird spring-guy and Doflamingo’s string clone made it two on four, which was a bit much, even for them. 

 

\-------

 

Law thought the situation had hit rock bottom when he lost his arm, and wouldn’t that feel weird for Straw Hat, a curious part of his mind added through the overwhelming agony. Law didn’t give up though, Emperor Shanks had fought fucking Akainu with only one arm, so Law couldn’t give up now. Not when they were so very close. Straw Hat could still fight, he would never give up. After everything he’d accomplished so far, Doflamingo wouldn’t, couldn’t, be the one to stop him. That thought gave him enough hope and strength to tell Doflamingo to fuck off. 

”My my, what spirit. It’s useless anyway. My birdcage is absolute, so why don’t you use your death for something useful? Do the operation of life on me, and perhaps I can do something for you?” 

”Sure”, Law answered and Doflamingo looked both surprised and delighted before Law continued. ”Bring Cora-san back to life for me, and the go lick the butts of everyone in this country”

”Law”, he could practically see the veins popping on Doflamingo’s forehead. 

”The Straw Hats leave sheer miracles in their wake, and they’ll continue to do so. You’ll be the one to fall”

”So much faith in your soulmate”, he sneered. ”It disgusts me. What use do you have for someone else’s pain? It does nothing but slow you down. You’ll both die here today, and you’ll be the first.” How many times did he have to get shot today, it really wasn’t fair at this point. At least he was still alive. 

”Corazón? Why do you bear that name!” Doflamingo got even angrier at the reminder of his brother, so when Law heard the gun click again he mustered up all the power he had left at created the biggest room he’d ever made. He was not going to die here, not even if he had to play a corpse. 

 

\-------

 

”He was so certain that you would save him, had faith right until the very last second. Pitty you were to slow to save him. Had you just punched that useless Bellamy you could have saved your soulmate, look what your pity brought you!” Law sincerely hoped that Straw Hat didn’t just blurt out that he was alive, because they could at least gain a little advantage from the surprise element. Thankfully he seemed too confused at the amount of bullet holes in the back of Law’s coat to immediately inform Doflamingo that Law actually was alive, so when he got close to check on him Law filled him on the plan and they attacked together. 

 

\-------

 

At this point Law was almost considering just giving up on plans, because he obviously couldn’t make one that worked anymore. Doflamingo just wouldn’t stay down, and Law was defeated by him once again. It fucking sucked. 

”Damn it!” He screamed, and embarrassingly he had to fight tears as the warlord stood over him once again. What did they say? Third times the charm. Law really would die this time, and for the first time since he got to this despicable island he really didn’t want to. The sharp heel of his lifelong tormentor came towards his face and Law screamed again. When nothing happened he opened his eyes and the sight made his breath get stuck in his chest. Above him, his soulmate had stopped Doflamingo’s raised leg with a single foot. 

”I was just going to crush Laws head”, Doflamingo said, anger pouring of him in waves. Then he raised his leg again, and when it came downwards it was coated in armament haki and Law felt the choking pressure of conquerors haki pressing down on his mind. Was this it? No, the second Doflamingo’s attack gained speed it was stopped for a second time. The air crackled with power as two conquerors clashed against each other. Doflamingo’s power was huge, but Straw Hat still held up against it. Their willpower was so great that it created physical shockwaves that flared out around them with so much force that Law was pushed away. It was insane. And this man was Law’s soulmate. Monkey D. Luffy, who was half the size and age of Donquiqote Doflamingo, a powerful new world veteran, warlord and former Celestial Dragon, stood up against him in equal power. 

 

The fight that followed was brutal, Doflamingo just wouldn’t go down and Trebol kept getting in the way. Law was barely keeping himself together at this point, but despite everything Straw Hat kept on fighting. In the end Law managed to take out Trebol, but then his weird goo caught fire and it was time to go. Straw Hat grabbed Law under his arm and jumped off the plateau. The physical contact was a huge relief, but it was short lived because Doflamingo was coming after them. Law really couldn’t keep fighting, or even moving, but Straw Hat was apparently still going strong and gearing up to keep fighting. He threw Law to his nakama and then immediately went into defense. It was amazing. To believe that the man could create miracles and actually see the start of one was two very different things, and Law had never realized exactly how amazing Straw Hat really was. 

 

\-------

 

Law really hadn’t expected someone to reattach his arm again, but when the possibility was brought up he immediately accepted. Sure, Shanks managed without an arm, but Law was a surgeon and he needed that arm. The final battle between Luffy and Doflamingo was brutal, and Law wanted to watch every part of it. The birdcage kept closing in, Straw Hat used way too much haki and for some reason every person on the island kept calling him Lucy. So much happened during those last few chaotic minutes and despite not having energy left for moving, Law managed to create a couple more much needed rooms to help Straw Hat win. In the end, when Doflamingo lay there beaten to a pulp and Law felt lighter than should be possible he looked down at his soulmate. 

”Straw Hat-ya. You did it”, he didn’t know if he sounded shocked or relived, but the younger man gave him a wide but exhausted smile. 

”Silly Torao, of course I did. I told you I would kick Mingo’s ass, so I did.” He paused for a second. ”And call me Luffy, you sound like Smokey when you call me Straw Hat”, Law didn’t understand how he could always be so sure about his own ability, but now that he’d seen it for himself and perhaps it wasn’t so weird after all. Because if the world didn’t bend to Straw, no, to Luffy’s, will on the first try he bent it with force on the second. The comparison to a marine was also enough to scare Law completely away from using the moniker. 

”Okay then, Luffy-ya. Good job”

”Shihihihi! Now get over here!” It sounded like an order, but Law didn’t feel forced in the slightest, instead it felt like an invitation, which he gladly accepted. 

 

\-------

 

He had never felt so relaxed and rested as he did right now. Everything was just so comfortable and, wait. No, this didn’t add up. Didn’t he get shot? Several times? And loose an arm? Did he dream that? No, if that was a dream then Luffy kicking Doflamingo’s ass was also a dream and that part he really hoped was real. Luffy, his soulmate. He should probably open his eyes. It was really hard and he didn’t want to, but he also needed to know what was going on, so he opened them. He was in an unfamiliar house, and it was filled with people, but at least most of them were familiar. The Straw Hats were there and Luffy was right next to him here on the bed. Wait what? He and Luffy was sharing a bed? He could almost remember falling into one when the swordsman pushed him, so Law shifted his body slightly and yes, he was indeed sharing a bed with Straw Hat Luffy, and apparently cuddling him as well. He hoped no one else noticed. 

”You comfortable there, Torao?” Of course they did. He looked around the room again only to meet the smirking gaze of the swordsman and he immediately turned his gaze away with a scowl. It was Zoro’s fault that he was in this position, so he shouldn’t laugh at him now, even if Law was grateful to be able to stay in contact with what was basically the best pain reliever in the world. 

”I think they look very comfortable”, Nico Robin answered for him. 

”Yeah, it’s SUPER nice to relax with your soulmate after battle!” Franky added, and it was then that Law realized that Robin was practically sitting in his lap, leaning her entire body against his chest. The cyborg shipwright seemed oh so careful when moving his big arms around her and his voice was calmer than normal. Huh, how had Law missed that before? It seemed so obvious now in the way they were relaxing into each other, calming worry and soothing hurt with just a simple touch. A part of Law wanted to get up from his awkward and embarrassing position, but Franky was correct, it was nice to relax, to heal and rest without the pain he would undoubtedly be in if he wasn’t resting so close to Luffy. So he just gave up on any hope of keeping up his image and let himself rest again, there were other people awake to keep watch for the moment, and at this point it would be weird for Law not to trust them enough for something like that. 

 

\-------

 

”So why is my baby brother sleeping next to a strange older man?” The unfamiliar voice pulled him up from sleep and Law once again marveled at the difference the simple contact with his soulmate made. He had, after all, experienced the aftermath of all Luffy’s previous battles and his own injuries were probably even worse than that, and still, he was calmly able to rest. Or at least he had been calm until the chief of staff of the revolutionary army, and apparently Luffy’s older brother, walked in. This was definitely not a conversation he wanted to have while laying down, so he pushed himself up to a sitting position, carefully keeping a hand on Luffy’s sleeping form at all times. It was already looking to be an uncomfortable conversation, and it would only be worse if he was in pain the entire time as well. 

 

”To be honest, if your brother is strong enough to defeat Doflamingo, he can probably decide who he sleeps next to”, Law said with a dry voice. The fact that neither he and Luffy had had any say about being put to bed together was neither here nor there. Luffy had asked Law to come closer after the battle after all, and had seemed so very happy when Law did. To his surprise Zoro let out loud laugh at his answer. 

”He’s right you know, and the captain always does what he wants” Law started at him, Zoro had been suspicion of him since day one, and now he was backing him up to Luffy’s brother? It was probably more him protecting Luffy’s right to his own decisions, but the sentiment was nice all the same. Law expected some kind of warning or shovel talk, but Sabo just laughed. 

”Yeah that’s Luffy all right. He’s a hurricane” 

”That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one”, Law muttered and this time both Zoro and Sabo was laughing at him. 

”You never stood a chance, did you?” Sabo asked with a smile. 

”Oh, he didn’t want to stand a chance. I clearly remember what you said, and Cabbage-kun most certainly does as well”, this time it was Robin who chimed in, and Law kind of wanted to lay down and pull a blanket over his head. 

”Really?” Zoro asked and Sabo looked interested. ”What did he say? Because when I split up with them to fight with Pica he was still arguing halfheartedly.” 

”Please, Robin-ya”, Law begged. 

”No, I’d like to hear this!” Sabo interrupted. Robin laughed but at this point it wasn’t just the present Straw Hats and samurai who looked interested, even Bellamy had woken up and was watching them in some sort of horrified fascination. 

”It was when we were about to escape from the plateau, Law objected to that and said: ’If he wins, I want to see it with my very own eyes, and if he loses, I want to die by his side’” Some of the Straw Hats made cooing noises but Law could see what had to be an approving look on Zoro’s face before he actually did lay down and pull the blanket over his face. He did not want to listen to this anymore, and if Luffy could continue to sleep, Law could as well. In the end he stayed awake long enough to listen to Sabo’s story but after that sleep took him again. The reduced pain really was soothing, and the memory of Doflamingo’s beaten form kept any nightmares at bay. 

 

\-------

 

Leaving Dressrosa was a fucking hurricane, after hearing nothing from the marines for three days they were suddenly everywhere, and in the middle of that chaos Law had a very difficult conversation with former Fleet Admiral Sengoku. It was so weird, that the man who had been at the top of the marines for decades was his only emotional connection with Cora-san. Then Luffy fought Admiral Fujitora and after that all the people of the country were saving them from that Admiral. At this point Law had almost gotten used to it, so he just went with it and accepted the crazy that the Straw Hats were regularly mixed up in. As if that wasn’t enough Luffy tried to deny a whole fleet, and the annoying cannibal-guy just kept crying about everything the small pirate crew did. It was several long hours of partying until Law finally got some time on his own. 

 

\-------

 

He found an empty spot at the prow of the ship and was watching the ocean in silence. The sky was completely clear, and the stars twinkled from horizon to horizon. The ache was still there in every injury, and his arm felt numb a lot of the time, but he could move and he still had feeling in his fingers, which was amazing in and on itself. The marks from Luffy was disappearing just as quickly as usual and Law couldn’t help but to be a bit envious of his extremely fast healing. Although if Luffy was healing then Law’s over all pain was also going down, so that was good. 

 

”Is Torao hiding?” Law almost jumped, he hadn’t noticed anyone coming up behind him. 

”Luffy-ya, I just needed some time for myself.”

”Should I leave?” The question was sincere, and Law felt touched, Luffy seldom listened to others, but now he was waiting for Law’s answer. 

”It’s alright”, he said and moved a bit to the side so Luffy could sit down next to him. As soon as the other captain was in reach Law almost unconsciously reached out a hand to touch him. It was addictive. “I just wanted to say”, Law paused, searching for words. “I’m really thankful for everything you’ve done, I could never have done it on my own, quite frankly I would probably be dead three times over.”

“Torao”, Luffy’s voice was firm even as he leaned his entire body against Laws side. “You don’t have to say thank you, I wanted to beat up Mingo, and I wanted to help you even more. You’re my mystery special person”, it was quite fascinating how he could shift so effortlessly between sounding completely serious and then saying something so silly sounding as mystery special person. 

”Soulmate. We’re soulmates”, Law said, because that was easier than acknowledging everything else. 

”Yeah, I know, it’s nice”, with the way Luffy’s body was leaning against him and any lingering pain was soothed, Law couldn’t help but agree. 

”You’re not mad I didn’t say anything?” Law had to ask. It had been bothering him for a while, Luffy was just so trusting to everything, but Law didn’t want to be an asshole who used that. 

”I understand that you had your own things to finish first. Robin didn’t tell us everything at once either and then tried to leave, and Nami actually told me straight out that she had betrayed us, it doesn’t matter. Nakama is nakama”, he paused and turned around so that he was facing Law head on, ”and you are nakama, Torao, you can’t deny that any more”, once again he sounded so much wiser than Law was used to and he didn’t know what to say so he avoided it again. 

”If you can’t pronounce Trafalgar you can call me Law you know”

”Sure, but I like Torao as well”, Law supposed it was hopeless at this point, the entire Straw Hat crew had already taken up their captain’s weird nickname for him. They sat in silence for a while, just watching the ocean and the stars. It was nice, Law hadn’t known Luffy was capable of silence.

 

”Hey Law, does this mean we’re boyfriends now?” Luffy asked suddenly and Law almost fell over from the sudden question. 

”I don’t know”, he answered truthfully. ”Do you want us to be boyfriends?” Luffy though in silence for a while. 

”If we are boyfriends, does that mean we have to do sex? Because I don’t want that”, that answer was so innocently honest that Law felt a surprisingly strong impulse to hug him. 

”We don’t have to have sex. I don’t particularly care for it myself”, Luffy twisted around and looked at him in chock. 

”Really?” His voice was hopeful and suddenly Law was slightly concerned about what Luffy had been thinking before. 

”Of course not! A lot of people don’t have sex, some because they don’t want to, and others, like me, because they’re asexual. It’s when you don’t feel sexual attraction”, Law added the last part as an explanation when Luffy kept staring. 

”Cool. I supposed I’m asexual as well then. I’ve just never really thought about it before. I mean, Hancock wanted to marry me, but I don’t think she wanted sex”, the reminder of the warlord who had wanted to marry his soulmate was slightly weird, especially now when they sat so close together under a beautiful starry sky, it probably looked really romantic. 

”Okay then”, Law said and relaxed a bit more into Luffy’s side. ”Do you want to be boyfriends if we don’t have sex?” 

”Yeah!”, his soulmate exclaimed enthusiastically, and when did Law start to care so much about him? He felt relived at Luffy’s answer, even though he’d tried to deny any connection between them just a few days earlier. Now a world without Luffy by his side felt hard to even imagine. 

”Can I kiss you?” He asked, surprising even himself with the question. 

”Yeah”, Luffy repeated a bit more calmly. Then he twisted so that he was facing Law again and met him halfway. It was a short, sweet kiss but Law didn’t feel any need to do anything more. It was enough to put his arms around Luffy and feel his warmth against himself. 

”I’m glad it’s you”, Luffy said and Law could almost physically feel his heart clench at the words. 

”Me too”, he answered when he got his voice back under control. ”I’m so glad you’re my mystery special person, Luffy-ya.” He got a short laugh at that, but also a tight grip on his hand, so Law saw it as a victory. 

 

\-------

 

After that they sat together watching the stars for a long while, Luffy couldn’t really stay calm and silent for much longer but Law was happy to listen to him talk, and fill in with his own stories in between. At one point he found himself telling Luffy about his childhood, but when it got hard to talk his soulmate just snuggled closer and somehow it felt more alright. After that he continued to talk about his weird conversation with Sengoku, and when he finished that Luffy looked at him with a smile.

”So you have a grandfather! That’s nice! I wonder if he’s friends with my gramps?” Law didn’t know what to say to that, he’d never even met Sengoku before Dressrosa, and now the man was his grandfather? That didn’t really feel right, but he couldn’t deny that Cora-san had been like a father to him, both during their short time together but perhaps even more so in all the years afterwards when the memory of him kept Law going. So perhaps he could call Sengoku something of a grandfather, at least to Luffy. 

”You do know that just because they’re both grandfathers to pirates it doesn’t mean they know each other?” 

”Yeah, of course, but they’re both marines, aren’t they?” Luffy’s grandfather was a marine? Law had an itching feeling that he should know something about that but right now he couldn’t grasp it. ”Sengoku is the one with the seagull hat, right? That turns huge and golden?” 

”Yeah”, Law answered carefully. 

”Then he’s probably friends with gramps”, Luffy decided with a smile, but Law was still a bit lost. 

”Luffy-ya, who exactly is you’re gramps?” 

”Monkey D. Garp”, Luffy answered with a slight wince. ”He gives out the worst punches, have been using haki on me since I was a child, of course I didn’t know that’s what it was, just that they hurt despite my rubber body”, Law just realized what he’d missed and now he sat there feeling both stupid and shell shocked. Luffy’s grandfather was Garp the Fist, hero of the Marines, and despite all that, the one silly detail that struck him the most was the fact that yes, their grandfathers were actually friends. He told Luffy and then they both kind of broke down in giggles at just how insane it was. 

”I wonder what they think about us now”, Law panted out after a while, stomach hurting from laughing so much. 

”Perhaps gramps can give old man seagull some lessons in having pirate grandchildren!” Luffy added and then they were off again with way too much breath-stealing laughter. 

 

Law never would have expected to end up like this. To be happy, relaxed and relatively safe, sitting close to his soulmate on the sea under the open sky and laughing himself silly. Life really did surprise you, and sometimes it even had something good to bring.

**Author's Note:**

> I almost had an existential crisis when editing this and realizing that I've mixed English and Japanese like a fic writer from 2009 who still wrote bluenette and lemon. But there really isn't any good English word to use in the place of nakama. I use crew most of the time, but in One Piece nakama has such a huge importance that I just had to leave it that way when Law's comparing Ace with Luffy's crew, and also later when Luffy keeps talking about it. I suppose I could use family, but nakama feels so natural in One Piece so I hope you can live with it.


End file.
